Infinite / Unique: an infinite item can be obtained as often as you like; a unique one a limited number of times per game.
Rate “1/8”: a 1 in 8 chance that the monster group drops the item.
Red / blue chest: red = fixed contents, once; blue = random contents, reset every time the game is loaded.
Revocation: going back to level 1 in a vocation that reached level 99; the first time gives a medal.
Post-game: everything that only exists after the end of the story.
★ (stars)
The 0-5 rating the game gives every item (read from its record): the more stars, the rarer or more valuable.
Infinite / Unique (rarity)
Infinite: the item has at least one source you can repeat as often as you like: shops (except mini medal reward tiers), sparkly spots, monsters (except bosses fought only once), repeatable quests, blue chests, grotto chests, furniture, companions created at Patty's. Unique: only limited sources in a game: red chests, story, non-repeatable quests, revocation medals, guests. Alchemy: an item is infinite when all its ingredients are. Not counted: the DQVC and the special guests (Wi-Fi shop shut down by Nintendo in 2014, revived by the community server); items only obtainable online carry the “Online only” tag (Items page, Filters button → Rarity).
Style
Every piece of equipment has six style values: naive, casual, vanity, allure, aloof and chic (names from English guides: the game never shows them). The game adds each category up over everything worn. According to guides, style helps enthral monsters. Quest 12 (checked in game): Chic must be the highest style and reach 121 points. An item's “style” in the tables = its best category.
Resistances
Element (fire, ice…): % less damage. Ailment (sleep, poison…) or spell (Whack, Fizzle…): % less chance to be affected. “Immune” = −100%.
Bonus against a family
Each weapon type deals ×1.1 damage to one monster family (swords: dragons, spears: beasts, knives: bugs, wands: demons, whips: humanoids, staves: zombies, claws: machines, fans: aquatics, axes: plants, hammers: materials, bows: birds); some weapons deal ×1.2. Read from the ROM.
Weapon vocations
A vocation can equip the weapons (and shield) of its skill lines; with 100 points in a weapon skill, any vocation can equip it.
Block, evasion, MP absorption
Chance (%) to block a blow with a shield, to dodge, and share of damage dealt returned as MP (wands).
Monster actions, patterns
Every monster has 6 action slots. Depending on the monster, the game draws one at random (chances not always equal: the card gives each action's %), plays them in order, turn by turn, or alternates. If the drawn action is impossible (no MP left…), it tries the previous slots, then the next ones (none: it attacks); but some monsters do not check (they lose their turn), or only after a first failure: the card says so. Those that check also judge whether the action is useful, otherwise they take another slot: a heal only if an ally is below half HP; Snooze only if a target is still awake (the most careful ones: at least 2 targets out of 3 awake, without Bounce and not immune); “raises its tension” only below 50; Disruptive Wave (the most careful ones) only if a party member has an effect to remove; Spell Checker and Magic Barrier (the most careful ones) only after being targeted by a spell, Insulate after a breath; Insulatle never (game bug). Each monster's card lists its conditions. Some slots come up only once per turn for the whole group: if several identical monsters are together, only one casts that spell in a turn. Some monsters act 2 or 3 times per turn, or every other turn. Bosses switch attack pattern mid-battle (“switches to pattern B”): each pattern has its own slots, and the boss acts at once in the new pattern (no turn lost). Legacy bosses: one set of patterns for levels 1-15, 16-40 and 41-99, and some actions only from a given level (“from level 28”). An action with no in-game name is described by its battle message, in quotes.
G
Gold coins, the game's currency.
Rate “1/8”
1 chance in 8 that a defeated monster drops the item. The game stores a 0-7 code, converted to 1/8 … 1/256 by a table read from its code.
Loot, steal (Half-inch)
Loot: what a monster leaves after the battle. Half-inch: the Thief skill that takes an item during battle; on grotto and legacy bosses it is the only way to get their two “monster” items.
Treasure map, grotto
A treasure map leads to a grotto (random dungeon). It hides a quality (2 to 248) and a seed (0 to 32,767): the whole grotto follows from them. The game only shows its name and level; the Grottoes page finds the rest from the name.
Grotto boss
The boss at the bottom of a grotto (12 possible, depending on the map quality).
Legacy boss
Past Dragon Quest villains, on special maps obtained after the ending. Their level (1 to 99) goes up by one when you give them the battle's experience after the win, and their loot changes by level bracket.
Monster rank
Strength of the monsters on a grotto floor (1 to 12); it rises by 1 every 4 floors.
Chest rank
Grotto chests: from I (lowest) to A then S (best). Blue chests in the world: rank 1 to 5.
Red / blue chest
Red: fixed contents, once. Blue: random contents, restocked every time the game is loaded.
Group (sparkly spots, fountain)
Ore, Stone, Water, Flower, Sea, Grass, Mushroom or Sand: rolled when the game is created, it never changes. It sets the timer and sparkle count of 24 spots and the items of the inn's fountain. To know yours: look at the fountain's items (Field page).
Area
Part of a large region with its own monster list.
Joins
A monster never visible in the field: it only comes along with the monster you touched.
Level, basement
Floors of a building or dungeon (French version: « niveau 2 » = level 2, « sous-sol 1 » = first basement).
Revocation
Going back to level 1 in a vocation that reached level 99 (Alltrades Abbey). The first time in each vocation earns a medal.
Alchemiracle
For 22 pieces of equipment, the recipe can yield a better item; the chance depends on one of the hero's stats.
DQVC
The game's Wi-Fi shop, which also delivered the special guests and the Wi-Fi quests. Shut down by Nintendo in 2014, revived since late 2018 by fan servers (today AltWFC); playable offline with DQVC at home.
Special guest
A celebrity from earlier Dragon Quest games staying in a royal suite of the Stornway inn; they hand over their outfit.
Post-game
What only exists after the ending. The “Post-game” setting (Settings button) or your story step (“The story step by step” page) hides it to avoid spoilers.
DQ9 Encyclopedia